Farther inland is the Murge, scorched highlands grooved by canyons where, in the Middle Ages, people built cave dwellings as homes and churches when they fled from pirates.

The most famous dwellings of all are the Sassi in Matera, which is just across the state line in the Basilicata region.

Below the modern town and built on the side of a steep ravine, two whole neighborhoods of single-room cave dwellings and rock-hewn, frescoed churches were inhabited first by hermits and then by families until the 1960s.

While some are now trendy hotels and restaurants, they still look so authentically ancient that Mel Gibson filmed scenes here for "The Passion of the Christ."

But the Murge only constitute a desert for visitors who are not familiar with its extraordinary variety of life forms.

Overhead one can follow the birds of prey that circle in the search for food (small reptiles, rodents or crickets); and in its expanses, green in the winter and ochre in the summer, blossom dozens of vegetable species of fluorescent colours.

The Karst territory of this area suddenly opens out onto the dolinas, like the Gurgo dolina, in the vicinity of Andria.

Grottos have formed in these abysses many of which were inhabited by prehistoric men.

In ancient times, the Murge were covered by forests of oaks, now reduced to small and precious woods like the one of Corato or the bosco di Acquatetta near Minervino.

One can search for fruit and blackberries under the cover of foliage.

The municipalities of Spinazzola, Minervino, Corato and Andria are part of the Alta Murgia National Park, the first ever rural park in Italy.

In these areas one can admire landscapes of indefinite horizon, rough and rugged outcrops furrowed by marshes and small canyons.

An impressive sight is the Rocca del Garagnone (near Spinazzola).

The hill-top and ancient castle of Frederick II is now in ruins. To the visitor, however, the castle bestows the hill with a particularly suggestive image of a “stone cathedral”, like the one of Monument Valley.

Naturally, it is practically impossible to tour the area and not notice the white hump of Castel del Monte. This castle, perfect and mysterious, is surrounded by a spiral of pines that climb right up to the top of the hill on which it stands. This is Frederick’s masterpiece and a view extending to Gargano can be admired from its windows.

Wandering along the Murge paths, as enjoyed by the English naturalist Jennyfer Ann Walter, who wrote a lengthy and poetic Diary of the Murgia hills (published in Italy by Adda, Bari), one can still encounter herds of oxen and sheep and horse-riders, and purchase cheese products directly from producers met at the many farms and farm holiday centres.

The area of what is now Matera has been settled since the Palaeolithic.

The city was allegedly founded by the Romans in the 3rd century BC, with the name of Metheola after the consul Lucius Caecilius Metellus.

In AD 664 Matera was conquered by the Lombards and became part of the Duchy of Benevento.

In the 7th and 8th centuries the nearby grottos were colonized by both Benedictine and Greek-Orthodox monastic institutions.

The 9th and 10th centuries were characterized by the struggle between Saracens, Byzantines and the German emperors, including Louis II, who destroyed the city. After the settlement of the Normans in Apulia, Matera was ruled by William Iron-Arm from 1043.

After a short communal phase and a series of pestilences and earthquakes, the city in the fifteenth century became an Aragonese possession, and was given in fief to the barons of the Tramontano family. In 1514, however, the population rebelled against the oppression and killed Count Giovanni Carlo Tramontano.

In the seventeenth century Matera was handed over to the Orsini and then became part of the Terre d'Otranto di Puglia. Later it was capital of Basilicata, a position it retained until 1806, when Joseph Bona-parte reassigned it to Potenza.

In 1927 it became capital of the Matera province. On September 21, 1943, the Materani rose against the German occupation, the first Italian city to fight against the Wehrmacht.

Matera has gained international fame for its ancient town, the "Sassi di Matera" (meaning "stones of Matera"). The Sassi originate from a prehistoric (troglodyte) settlement, and are suspected to be some of the first human settlements in Italy.

The Sassi are houses dug into the tuff rock itself, which is characteristic of Basilicata and Puglia.

Many of these "houses" are really only caverns, and the streets in some parts of the Sassi often are located on the rooftops of other houses. The ancient town grew in height on one slope of the ravine created by a river that is now a small stream. The ravine is known locally as "la Gravina".

In the 1950s, the government of Italy forcefully relocated most of the population of the Sassi to areas of the developing modern city. However, people continued to live in the Sassi, and according to the English Fodor's guide:

“ Matera is the only place in the world where people can boast to be still living in the same houses

of their ancestors of 9,000 years ago. ”

Until the late 1980s this was considered an area of poverty, since these houses were, and in most areas still are, mostly unlivable. Current local administration, however, has become more tourism-oriented, and has promoted the re-generation of the Sassi with the aid of the European Union, the government, UNESCO, and Hollywood. Today there are many thriving businesses, pubs, and hotels.

One of the benefits of the ancient city, is that there is a great similarity in the look of the Sassi with that of ancient sites in and around Jerusalem. This has caught the eye of film directors and movie studios.

Like every city or town in Italy, Matera has a number of churches. However, nowhere else in Italy, and possibly even the world, will one see such a diverse collection of buildings related to the Christian faith. Some even believe that the very first "churches" ever used for worship were formed in the slopes of the surrounding ravine.

The Cathedral (1268–1270) is an important monument, and has been dedicated to Santa Maria della Bruna since 1389. Built in an Apulian-Romanesque architectural style, the church has a 52m tall bell tower, and next to the main gate is a statue of the Maria della Bruna, backed by those of Sts. Peter and Paul. The main feature of the façade is the rose window, divided by sixteen small columns. The interior is on the Latin cross plan, with a nave and two aisles. The decoration is mainly from the 18th century Baroque restoration, but recently a Byzantine-style fourteenth-century fresco portraying the Last Judgment has been discovered.

There are many other churches and monasteries dating back throughout the history of the Christian church. Some are simple caves with a single altar and maybe a fresco, often located on the opposite side of the ravine. Some are complex cave networks with large underground chambers, thought to have been used for meditation by the rupestric and cenobitic monks.

The Tramontano Castle that was begun in the early sixteenth century by Gian Carlo Tramontano, Count of Matera, is probably the only other structure that is above ground of any great significance outside of the Sassi.

However, the construction remained unfinished after his assassination in the popular riot of 29 December 1514. It has three large towers, while twelve were probably included in the original design.

During some restoration work in the main square of the town, workers came across what was believed to be the main footings of another castle tower.

However, on further excavation, large Roman cisterns were unearthed. Whole house structures were dis-covered where one can see how the people of that era lived. Found under the main square of the modern city was a large underground reservoir, complete with columns and a vaulted ceiling.

Matera was built above a deep ravine called Gravina of Matera that divides the territory into two areas.

Matera was built such that it is hidden, but made it difficult to provide a water supply to its inhabitants. Early dwellers invested tremendous energy in building cisterns and systems of water channels.